In 2005, emergency aid reached at least $17bn - outstripping any other year. But while high-profile cases such as the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina attracted donors, countless other crises were neglected.

Bi-lateral and multilateral aid programmes of donor nations (most often Western countries) often attach business, purchasing and other requirements of recipient nations. This type of aid reinforces the image of the donor as benefactor of the world and the image of the recipient as inferior. Such assistance is also typically determined by the intentions and values of the recipient nations, as most donor nations refuse to support governments...